(Read the post online for better viewing & lots of resources)
An
area collapsed near the western wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque late Tuesday. Arabs
blamed Israel.
By
Elad Benari
Al
Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem
An
area collapsed near the western wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem late
Tuesday, reported the Turkish Anadolu news agency.
An
eyewitness told the agency that the collapse occurred near the Bab as Silsila,
on the western part of the mosque.
It
is the second collapse near the western wall within five years, Cum'a Usayle,
an eyewitness, told Anadolu.
"The
collapse has caused a deep hole there. It is dangerous for the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It poses danger especially for children and women," he said.
The
report claimed that no security precautions around the area have been taken by
Israeli officials so far, nor has there been a statement about the incident.
The
Al-Aqsa Foundation and Cultural Heritage Organization accused Israel, as it
usually does, of paving the way for demolishing the Al-Aqsa Mosque by “building
new settlements and digging dozens of tunnels.”
Arabs
continuously accuse Israel of "Judaizing" the Temple Mount, sometimes
resorting to ridiculous propaganda such as accusing Israel of using chemicals
to erode the foundations of the mosque in order to cause it to collapse.
At
the same time the Waqf, which was left in charge of the Temple Mount after
Israel liberated it during the 1967 Six Day War, consistently destroys Jewish
antiquities on the compound in a direct violation of a ruling by the Supreme
Court.
The
Waqf has removed every sign of ancient Jewish presence at the site. At the entrance
to the Temple Mount, a Waqf sign says, “The Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and
everything in it is Islamic property.”
Palestinian
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas several months ago accused Israel of trying to
“destroy” the Al-Aqsa Mosque by allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount.
Speaking
to a Saudi-based newspaper, Abbas said that "the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in
danger," claiming that Israel prevents PA Arabs from praying at the
mosque, while allowing “extremist Jews" to worship there. This, he claimed,
is proof that Israel has a "malicious" and dangerous plan to destroy
the mosque and rebuild the “false” Holy Temple in its place, as he put it.
Most
recently, Jordanian King Abdullah II added fuel to the ongoing debate over
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, when he told visiting Muslim and Christian
dignitaries from Jerusalem that he will continue his efforts to “safeguard”
Islamic and Christian sites in the holy city of Jerusalem from what so-called
"Judaization."
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